This is it. The big day. All the work with the newborn foal, the weanling and the yearling is paying off. We finally get to ride!And because of our previous work together, this day is uneventful and a positive move forward. A giant step in my mind, but a natural progression in the horse’s.
Now, remember here, just like our Graduation Day, this doesn’t mean the horse will know it all, do it all, and have their Master’s. That’s up to us, to time, to training… but now it can be training under saddle, and a lot more fun. Take your time – allow the horse to understand and enjoy. Why not? I’d rather my horse want to be out there working with me, not tolerating another lesson, another task, another unpleasant day.
So, here we have the two year old. This is Tresjur of the Rio, a half Arabian/half Quarter Horse born here on the ranch out of our mare Tres and our stud Fadjurz Ideal (Flying Crow). He’s gone through his imprinting lessons, his weanling schooling, his yearling courses… he’s ready to ride. We start by refreshing all lessons we taught to him as a yearling. I am amazed how he remembers everything. Nothing is forgotten. No time was wasted. On the contrary, what was challenging for him to understand last year, he gets perfectly this year. He only requires a light touch, a gentle request. He leads politely; moves ahead at a walk or trot with a simple request; backs; moves his front end around his stationary back end; moves his back end around his front feet; gives lightly and easily to lateral flexion; turns into the feel of the rope halter; responds to voice and a gentle side pull for “whoa.” He has been saddled before, and is comfortable with us standing over him, leaning on him. He’s ready to ride.
I call on my secret weapon: my husband, Bob. With the horse under my lead, my husband slowly and kindly mounts, allowing Tresjur time to adjust to the added weight on his back, and become comfortable with one of us petting him… from up there. With Bob just sitting, I ask Tresjur to move. Slowly at first, allowing him time to adjust now to the added weight. His first step backwards is his only adjustment. You can tell it feels different. From there on, he handles it well. I have him do all his lessons again, quickly passing through the tasks of backing, moving front end, moving back end, flexing, stepping forward at a walk, moving out at a trot. Bob does nothing but sit. We leave the corral and step out on the ranch.
Next, I give Bob the lead rope. We work at this stage still only with a rope halter and marine rope lead without additional hardware or weight. It is what the horse is used to. He understands this communication. We do not need more. So, Bob in the saddle now asks Tresjur to go through the same paces – back, front end, hind end, flexion, walk, trot, canter, whoa… rest, relax… I walk beside Tresjur and reiterate Bob’s requests with the verbal cues and hand signals he is used to. This way, Tresjur not only has the commands he’s comfortable with coming from me, but is also understanding them from the new perspective of from the rider in the saddle. The whole time, Tresjur stares at me directly in the eyes, looking for the right answer. I smile, pet him, tell him he’s doing great. I want a confident horse. There’s a lot of scary stuff out there.
Finally, I step back, and Bob continues alone with Tresjur. Tresjur now understands. He is receiving the same requests, in the same language, for things he already knows how to do, but now they are coming from the saddle, not the ground. It is easy. It makes sense to him. He does wonderful.
We keep it short and sweet. Ending on a good note. Bob knows he can ride that horse out and could head up the trail. I have to encourage him off the horse – he’d rather stay on and ride. We’ve been working two years for this day. Every time, with every colt, it can be as rewarding, as exciting, as wonderful.
This same day, we take the first ride on Canella, a four year old who is late in receiving her first ride, though has all the ground work from day one that Tresjur had. We chose to postpone her first ride for two years to allow for a injury to heal. She had been tangled in barbed wire at two weeks old and twisted her leg. We were concerned she might never heal strong enough, and have used her as a broodmare while waiting. Time seems to have healed her. She may not be a performance horse, or capable of very many miles each day, but she’ll at least be able to be part of the team, and out there on the trail in small doses, with us instead of being left behind.
Now we can take them on short rides, exposing them to the trail, refining our lessons, working on new ones – opening gates, checking fences, up and down slopes, crossing ditches, roads, creeks. There will be obstacles to overcome every day. Challenges. Life lessons. Look at it as fun stuff. We try to help the horse learn and grow with every experience.
At this stage, there are no bad habits to overcome. Any bad habits from here on are those we teach. We try not to! We take responsibility for our horses’ education, and allow them to grow into the partner we wish them to be, know they would rather be, not a problem we settle for. The choice is ours, and the difference is in the amount of time we are willing to give to the horse, and in our leadership, lightness, direction, communication, consistency, and in the patience we are able to allow him or her.
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